Progress so far
The summer holidays are in full swing and The Boulevard Academy is well on its way to completion. Internal doors are being finalised and decorations to all classrooms and corridors are progressing well.
Fixed furniture has been installed, with loose furniture arriving in early August. A combination of vinyl and carpets create the floor finishes, all of which, along with the rest of the extension building will receive a builders clean initially and subsequent sparkle clean by our contractor Lemon Clean. Roof works are complete, as are external building cladding and windows. The extension building has undergone an air tightness test and passed with flying colours! This is instrumental in the operation of a highly efficient air conditioning and temperature-controlled air circulation system.
Completion of the building uses a top-down sequence to complete the works in the most orderly fashion; the textiles, art rooms, information and communications technology (ICT) suites, library, and staff offices, all on the second floor have progressed the most, and are looking great. A bespoke roof access ladder has been designed, fabricated, and will be installed in the next week. This will add the final puzzle piece to the second floor.
External works have restarted now the summer holidays are underway and the school car park has now been handed over to us. This allows us to carry out drainage and car park resurfacing works under the temporary classrooms, and our current welfare offices which will be removed from the site in the coming days, with smaller temporary units for management and operatives to use being installed in the interim.
Removing the existing welfare offices frees up the space below the car park to excavate and install the attenuation tank. Not only do we have surface water drainage and temporary water holding systems, but there is also a hydro-break that controls the speed at which water is released back into the main drain.
There have been some real positives whilst working alongside The Boulevard Academy. Namely, student introductions to future digital technologies during the steel frame erection, getting the students involved in celebrating project milestones, as well as an interactive presence at the year 8, 9, and 10’s careers fair. We also hosted the first ever ‘Sewell Business Breakfast’, where the site team was joined by partners on the project Esteem, along with Sewell Facilities Management and the Comms team. Additionally, students and teachers have been welcomed onto the site and given tailored group site tours during various stages of the build. This has given them a first-hand insight into the construction process, enabling the end-user to become familiar with their new building over time. It’s also raised excitement along the way, and they cannot wait to move in.
As a project team, we’re on target to hand over the extension to the school at the back end of August, with the site’s external works planned to follow in early September. This has been an amazing project to be involved in – I’m immensely proud of the collaborative achievements made and the high quality of the end product.
